Secret Turkey talks spark top-level row in Israel

Secret talks between Israel and Turkey to resolve a diplomatic crisis has provoked a major row between the Israeli foreign ministry and the office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The dispute erupted late on Wednesday after Turkish and Israeli media reports revealed that Turkey's Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu had held secret talks in Belgium with Israeli Trade Minister Benjamin Ben Eliezer.

Details of the meeting, however, were kept from Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, with the firebrand minister only hearing of the talks through the media.

A Turkish diplomat confirmed that the two had met in Brussels, but Israeli officials refused to be drawn on the talks, saying only that Ben Eliezer had met on Wednesday with "a Turkish official."

The official silence was widely interpreted as an attempt to hold back from anything which would aggravate the tension between Netanyahu and Lieberman.

The meeting took place exactly a month after a deadly Israeli raid on a fleet of aid ships trying to reach Gaza which left nine Turkish nationals dead and plunged shaky relations into a full-blown diplomatic crisis.

The news infuriated Lieberman, with his office issuing a sharply-worded statement saying such a move caused "serious harm" to relations with Netanyahu.

"The foreign minister views as extremely serious the fact that this was done without notifying the foreign ministry. This goes against all norms of government and does serious harm to the trust between the foreign minister and the prime minister."

The foreign minister views as extremely serious the fact that this was done without notifying the foreign ministry

Office of Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman

Technical oversight

Asked about the Channel Two report, Netanyahu's office said in a statement: "Minister Ben-Eliezer informed the prime minister of an offer by a Turkish figure to hold an unofficial meeting. The prime minister saw nothing to prevent such a meeting, as in recent weeks there have been various initiatives for contacts with Turkey."

Netanyahu's office explained that not informing Lieberman was a "technical" oversight.

But the fact that Lieberman had "learned about this through watching Channel 2 news" was perceived as a significant slight, an Israeli official said.

"Ben Eliezer has always been a one-man Turkish lobby -- he is someone they trust, with whom they have had long-standing ties, so it makes sense," he said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

"Having another minister step in (to help out with the Turkish crisis) is one thing, but doing this without informing the foreign minister -- that is really offensive," he said.

Sources close to Ben Eliezer told the Yediot Aharonot daily that keeping the talks from Lieberman was the right thing to do as the foreign minister had played "a significant part in intensifying the crisis with Turkey."

And several media reports said the White House had also been involved in planning the meeting.

As the row escalated, Netanyahu's people made numerous failed attempts to arrange a phone conversation between the two, public radio reported.

Explaining why the PM's office had not been able to reach Lieberman, foreign ministry sources chose their words carefully: it was "for technical reasons," they said

Israel, which strictly controls Gaza's borders in what it says is a precaution against arms smuggling, has defended the actions of marines who boarded the pro-Palestinian ship, arguing they opened fire after being attacked with knives and clubs.

But following Western criticism, including from its largest ally the United States, Israel has since eased a land blockade of Gaza where 1.5 million Palestinians live, allowing most civilian goods through, while continuing to enforce a naval embargo of the coastal territory.

It also launched on Monday a commission of inquiry into the interception of the ship, though the panel's make-up and limited powers have been criticised by Turkey, which withdrew its ambassador to Israel and cancelled joint military exercises.

Having another minister step in is one thing, but doing this without informing the foreign minister -- that is really offensive

Office of Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman